'Driven' Series Review

Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us are suckers for romance films. It can be the Hallmark Christmas films that we all love to hate, Fifty Shades of Grey, Jane Austen heart wrenching films, or cheesy rom coms, we've all seen them and we've all loved them. I've loved romantic films my whole life, my mom and I used to watch Hope Floats and other rom-coms pretty much everyday (post coming soon;) ), and she would record every single Hallmark Christmas film for us to watch. My first dip in the romance novel pool was reading Harry Styles smut on Wattpad when I was way too young and barely knew what sex was. (The 'After' film is gonna be so bad btw but you bet your ass I will be first in line at the midnight showing.) When I was 14, I read 'Fifty Shades of Grey' for the first time, literally only because Jamie Dornan was cast in the film and I was obsessed with The Fall. Basically, after that though I dove head first into the romance novel genre and read anything I could get my hands on and I've been addicted every since. One of my favorite series though is 'Driven'. A rich, bad boy, race car driver with a dark past falls for the innocent Rylee who is equally as broken.

Passionflix is a streaming service that started in 2017 and it honestly has improved my life immensely. It's a streaming service that adapts romance novels into films that are exactly like the book, about as close as you can possibly get. Co-founded by Tosca Musk (yes from THAT Musk family), she also has directed five of the six original content they've created, it's a company that makes films for women, made my women, what more could anyone want? With five films under their belt they now transition into series, their first being 'Driven'.

Driven, based off the book by K. Bromberg, stars Olivia Applegate as Rylee Thomas, a woman who runs a company raising orphaned boys with traumatic pasts, but she's battling her own demons because she lost her fiancé in a brutal car accident two years earlier.

From a chance encounter she meets Colton Donovan (Casey Deidreck) a professional race car driver who was adopted at age eight and "doesn't do the girlfriend thing", he gets whatever he wants when he wants it, usually women. But, Rylee Thomas throws him for a loop when she doesn't want to play his womanizing game, which only makes him want her more. Together they help heal each other from demons of the past, they ultimately help each other not be scared anymore, of love or sex. Even though they know they can't work, ever, they just can't stay away from each other.

There's one thing about this series that no one can deny, Casey and Olivia's chemistry is undeniable. They bring Colton and Rylee to life in a way book fans can only dream of. From the sizzling first encounter in the hallway to their beautiful scene on the porch in Malibu sharing hershey kisses, one thing is clear, they're GOOD together. They're hot, and their sex scenes are even hotter.

But, what makes this story so great is their love story. They care about each other so much, it's very obvious when you watch any interaction between them, by the last episode it wasn't just two people having sexual tension, it was real and genuine love between them.

The casting on this series was spot on, Olivia Applegate was a huge surprise as I've never seen her act before but she really worked well with the emotional scenes, the sex scenes and the playful side to Rylee. (She also sings a song for the series that was beautiful.) Casey Deidreck was absolutely amazing, I've been a fan of his since Eye Candy and was ecstatic when he was cast as Colton. He already has the bad boy look, slap on a leather jacket and it's perfect but you could see how much he loved her just from his eyes. (That sounded so cheesy it was painful to write.) I was blown away by his performance and now he has a new tv show coming out on the CW or something (?) I will be watching for sure, I've missed seeing his face on my tv screen. (RIP Eye Candy, you deserved better.)

Driven checked all the boxes for me that a good romance film should, hot scenes, great chemistry, slow burn where they're obviously in love, and two more sequels in the works coming out next year ! (Which are even more painful than this first book, trust me.)

Subscribe to Passionflix and support female filmmakers and independent film !

https://www.passionflix.com/#PF2018.

All The Love x, Amalia